West Ham United manager Sam Allardyce hopes to sign one new player in January

Allardyce claimed a fourth win in five games over Leicester to cement a top four spot.Getty Images

West Ham United manager Sam Allardyce will target at least one signing in the January transfer window but warns Financial Fair Play regulations will prevent the club making a host of additions.

The Hammers are eyeing a Champions League place after victory over Leicester City cemented the club's top-four spot going into Christmas, a position only one side has relinquished come the end of the season in the last five campaigns.

And Allardyce is optimistic West Ham can remain in the fight for a European place going into the second half of the term and hopes to call upon at least one new player to bolster the club's bid.

However, amid new FFP regulations that govern the spending of Premier League clubs, the West Ham boss has dampened expectations over a new year spending spree after claiming their rivals hold all the cards in the upcoming window.

"Everybody has to understand we are well into the second year of FFP so we are all in a much more difficult position when every window comes, with the limit on spending power, not just transfer fees but wages. And that's across the board now," Allardyce told Sky Sports.

"When it comes to January, it's not about asking the owners to go and find this amount of money or that amount of money, even if they wanted to. They could perhaps do it but at the end of the season, they'd get a hefty fine. We've got those restrictions.

"So I'd say one top player, if he became available, would be something we'd pursue - but someone may have to leave to fund that.

"There's no point in bringing in anybody less than a top player because what we've got now is top drawer at the minute. We've got 22 players all fighting for places in the team and playing really, really well.

"I think we've covered all positions this year; we've never had as many front men and we've changed the system so we don't need too many wide men. The ones in the team at the minute keep the shirt but they know they have to play their best because the ones waiting to take their place are eager to do that.

"At the moment the squad looks really tight, there's good camaraderie - but if somebody came in January, that was an outstanding player then yes."

"The top four in the Premier League is very difficult to break into if you haven't got the same spending power as them," he added.

"Lots of us have lived on the fringes in the past, I did the same at Bolton for the last two or three years. To try and get there is something that would have been beyond the club's owner's will at the time, for the spending power you need to fund for it.

"For us [West Ham] this season, it's just enjoying the position we're in and seeing at the end in January whether we reset our own goals and say: 'Can we finish in the top six, is it possible?'

"If we carry on the way we are, we're predicted a top-four finish. But whether we will or whether we won't is another matter."